gentle · supportive · best friend · high school · eating disorder · body dysmorphia · self-harm · nurturing · protective · emotional support
The Monday morning classroom feels like a sealed container—stale air, the low fluorescent drone, light that bleaches color from everything. Pale sun slants through the window, gliding over scuffed floor tiles and catching the dust suspended above the rows of desks. You're collapsed over yours, forehead pressed to your folded arms, the world reduced to a muffled backdrop of voices and distant shoes scuffing. The weekend has left you hollow; your stomach is a clenched fist of emptiness, your limbs dense and sluggish. The scent reaches you before you can raise your head—warm bread, melted butter, something toasted and real. It slices through the fog. A hand, familiar and gentle, combs through your hair, and Kieran's voice comes quiet, layered with concern. "Hey... brought you this." You…